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Last Month….
Many of us own video cameras
and probably take loads of holiday, wedding and family video footage
over a period of time. Very often this footage is disjointed and
contains portions that you would rather be without. How best to
clean it all up and perhaps give your masterpiece that professional
edge?
Barry Beeken has been experimenting
for sometime. Originally driven to preserve some old videos of
his family growing up, Barry set about seeing how he could get
it all digitised with his computer. Now days of course most video
cameras are digital already and the need to convert have become
redundant. Barry explained that his earlier analogue video tapes
were converted to digital via a Dazzle Box. This is a stand alone
unit that plugs between the video source and the PC. These units
cost around £70 and are well publicised on the internet
if you are interested. To get his video sequences onto the computer,
Barry uses a Fire-Wire connection which he had fitted to his computer
to allow ease of download. He explained that downloads via USB
are also possible.
However the subject of
Barry’s talk was to put some extra bounce and professionalism
into your already digitised video recordings. To achieve this,
Barry uses Pinnacle version 9. This has now been superseded and
is up to version 12 and comes in three versions. The basic version
Studio 12 costs around £40, Studio 12 + £70 and the
Ultimate version costs £100. Barry explained that although
not the latest version, his package does everything he needs.
It may well be worth looking out for older versions that often
become freely available on magazine cover disks.
As with most of the slideshow
and video show packages, Pinnacle shows a front page that is akin
to a storyboard that allows the user full access to all the functions
available to create a masterpiece. Barry showed that video snippets
can be dragged and dropped into the story section at the bottom
of the screen. They can then be viewed, cropped and generally
adjusted to suit. Extra clips can then be added into the storyboard
and joined by creative transitions. There are dozens of these
to choose from to ensure a smooth and professional look. Barry
suggested aiming for a video length of about 15 – 20 minutes
was ideal, much longer and the audience may go to sleep!!
Once you have added all
your video clips it is possible to add a soundtrack for background
effect. He explained that there may be sounds on the original
video clips and a clever function of the software was to be able
to change the volume of either the added soundtrack and or the
video clip sound, making them fade in and out at will. There are
a myriad of menu options available to the user and the more time
taken in the development stage will give a good professional finish.
The Title option allows you to create chapters which the user
can jump to without watching the whole video. Once your masterpiece
is completed it can be saved in a number of ways including .avi,
.mpeg, streaming video and onto disk as a stand alone DVD depending
on your requirements.
Video editing requires
good processing power and as much memory you can spare –
in fact dedicating a large hard disk to the operation helps greatly.
The higher spec of your processor will help reduce the considerable
time needed to create your video masterpiece.
This review only scratches
the surface of the technique and if you require more in-depth
information regarding video editing, I am sure Barry and any other
member who edits video will be happy to offer advice.
Our thanks to Barry for
a very interesting and informative evening.
Dave Robb
Phorm
BT is about to start further
trials of a controversial internet advertising technology. Developed
by Phorm, the Webwise system watches what people do online and
shows adverts tuned to their interests.
From 30 September, a sample
of BT's customers will be invited to "opt in" to a trial
of the technology.
Early trials were run without the consent of customers which led
to complaints.
This trial was originally
scheduled for March but has been repeatedly delayed. Those that
are invited to take part will see a special webpage appear when
they start browsing the web. BT has said customers would be able
to opt in, opt out or ask for more information via the pop-up
page.
The trial will run for
at least" four weeks and it is hoped 10,000 customers will
take part. The technical trial will help BT assess whether the
Phorm Webwise technology works well in the field.
Earlier trials of the technology
suggested that BT would have to commit a lot of resources, potentially
300 servers, to use the system for all customers.
"If it goes according
to plan it's our expectation that we will roll it out across the
entire broadband customer base," said the spokesman.
No decision has yet been
taken on whether Webwise would be "opt in" when the
finished system is rolled out.
The web browsing traffic
of those that "opt out" will pass through the Webwise
system but will not be profiled or copied by it, he added.
As well as serving up targeted
adverts, BT said the Webwise system would also help to tackle
fraud by warning people when they are about to visit a page that
has been flagged as dangerous.
BT said it would make another
announcement prior to starting the full roll-out of the service.
Small Is Not The Future
Is the end in sight for your compact small electronic devices
such as Ipod’s.
New EU batteries legislation
that came into force across Europe late last month is likely to
force the redesign of products whose batteries are not removable,
such as Apple's iPhone and iPod, according to a regulatory specialist.
The requirement is clearly
there to encourage equipment designers to produce devices where
the battery can be removed by opening the cover by hand or after
the removal of literally just one or two screws.
This provision may mean
the end of the line for devices such as the iPod or the iPhone,
whose batteries are integrated into the device in such a way that
only the manufacturer is capable of removing them.
The requirement that batteries
be easily removable has some exemptions, such as where "for
safety, performance, medical or data-integrity reasons, continuity
of power supply is necessary and requires a permanent connection",
according to the directive.
Christmas Dinner 2008
It’s nearly that
time again and we have booked the Bowls club Restaurant for Thursday
Evening December 18th.
Ben has kindly offered
to organise it again for us and by the time you read this, you
should hopefully have received an email regarding orders.
The meal is a three course
affair plus coffee & mince pies and cost £10.95. We
ask that you also include a £1.00 tip per person for the
tip.
Please send your orders
to Ben at benbarretto@talktalk.net .
He requires your choices for starter, main and sweet.
Money can be given to Ben
at the meetings. Pleas make cheques payable to “The Clubhouse
Restaurant”
If all has gone to plan,
you should find the menu on the back page of this newsletter.
Christmas Menu
1. Tomato and Basil Soup
2. Prawn Cocktail
3. Breaded Brie Wedges
4. Chicken Wings
5. Lime and Coriander Salmon
Wedges
1. Chicken Breast Fillet with Mushroom Sauce
2. Roast Beef with all
the Trimmings
3. Roast Turkey with all
the Trimmings
4. Salmon Hollandaise
5. Leek and Mushroom Crumble
1. Selection of Cold Sweets
2. Xmas Pudding
Coffee and Mince Pies
Cost of the meal is £10.95
(please include a £1.00 tip per person)
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